


The Professor's Reading List for the Sharing-Knife world

by nojoking



Category: Sharing Knife - Lois McMaster Bujold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-26 04:11:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12051042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nojoking/pseuds/nojoking
Summary: Professor Vanil Reader had pulled together as many stories about the Sharing-Knife world as he had been able to find. He'd done nothing with the primary histories of Lois McMaster Bujold, he had treated those as canon.  But his interest was especially in the secondary tales, and in those which didn't quite fit. But he had some 26 stories which he had put into a more or less chronological order.





	The Professor's Reading List for the Sharing-Knife world

## Professor Reader's Summary : Sharing-Knife tales

 

**Tales from Lakewalker and Farmer History :**

 

Professor Vanil Reader looked over the pile of papers arrayed on the desk.  He was coming to the end of his efforts to compile a Secondary History of the Knife Sharing world and how the Farmers and the Lakewalkers found ways to work together. 

Just to be complete, and to avoid treading on the toes of the primary historian, Lady Bujold, he had only researched the stories which had been found that were additional to her text.  But now he was coming to the end of his work, he had included 26 stories. He often wondered in which dusty attic or old box of papers, the next story would be found. 

First were the few stories, almost myths, which he had pulled together as the first small section of his work. 

####      [Where It Began](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2827559) by [rmc28](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rmc28/pseuds/rmc28)

_There were strong hints that the Lakewalker civilisation is the remnant of a much more scientifically-advanced one. Sufficiently advanced science could be indistinguishable from magic. Or groundwork._

The first story was very short and Vanil wished, as so often, for a story to be a little longer, more complete.  In fact, Vanil knew it was greedy but he wanted more from almost every story.

####      [Terminus](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2706083) by [Castiron](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Castiron/pseuds/Castiron)

For the second piece, Vanil could only endorse the original copier's summary: _A_ _pause in the war with the Malice King._

One day, he might take up his pen and treat some of these stories as fiction and therefore be suitable for him to write what 'what I would like to happen next'.  Although he knew authors of both fiction and non-fiction and they were as snarly as trapped ferrets if anyone amended or critiqued their work. Writing a 'what-if' follow-up, he guessed they'd try to stab with their pens anyone with such temerity.

On the other hand, if any of what was written was true, there were surely clues to what must be done. What could people now learn if there was just a bit more knowledge from the old days.  Not that most people considered these to be other than rumour and myth.

**Cumbia is right! by** [ **nojoking** ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/nojoking/pseuds/nojoking)

[Growing up in Redwing Tent](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2803913) by [rmc28](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rmc28/pseuds/rmc28)

Then he came to the sections that interested him most â€“ the renewal of Dag's life with the arrival of Fawn.  But first came some background.  For instance - The early life of Dag in Tent Redwing when he first had to learn the lessons of his mother's difficulties. 

The introduction referred to this:  _When you know you're right and there is no alternative. When there's no alternative to you being right. The First Lesson at Tent Redwing._

Then, there was the alternative view from his niece Sumac as she grew to be a teenager. 

There were no stories about the years, the decades of Dag being  'just a patroller'.  Most of this was mentioned elsewhere.  Especially about being the strongest blocker, best healer, furthest scout and so on. The professor pondered, Dag had never been ordinary.

####      [Waiting for a Spark](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6098407) by [nojoking](http://archiveofourown.org/users/nojoking/pseuds/nojoking) 

The next story had the summary : _Years later, Dag was doing too much thinking. Tired and bored and waiting for something to happen. And then, his life did begin to change and as he said later 'I stopped wanting to die'._

####       [Entanglement](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1626146) by [Adina](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Adina/pseuds/Adina) 

_Almost dying has consequences, if not anything you would have expected for Saun._

After the meeting of Dag and Fawn and their arrival at the inn.

####      [Victory](http://archiveofourown.org/works/189289) by [Gwynne](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Gwynne/pseuds/Gwynne) 

_By the end of the Camp Council at the Lake, the winners look and wonder 'How should you feel when you've won?'_

Vanil had thought about such complex arguments at the college but never with the simultaneous taste of bitterness and pleasure. But he did remember times he had thought that he had won - and sometime later he had learnt the cost.

By now the Professor had reviewed many stories and some he felt were too fanciful for inclusion in his Secondary History.  By now, too, he had moved beyond the first two books of the Bujold history.  Dag and Fawn, or Spark as she was often called, were married according to both Lakewalker and Farmer ways. They had left the camp or been self-exiled perhaps - according to one's viewpoint.

Yet again, the professor wondered at the capacity of people for casual cruelty, the success of love against all expectations and the variety of scenarios that could be conjured by contemplating 'what if this had happened instead'.   He loved history and how it was so subjective to the points of view of the participants and the later authors who wrote the stories down.  And as for those fools who said "History is the study of the truth of events", what rubbish.  He smiled and picked up his pen. 

####      [Hod's New Smile](http://archiveofourown.org/works/209704) by [firefly124](http://archiveofourown.org/users/firefly124/pseuds/firefly124)

_Hod's experience of beguilement._ This was an interesting sidelight. So, he thought, we come to the first of Dag's incredible experiments. How he first began to be a groundsetting, mage world-changer.

The tales told of how by the end of the down-river journey, there was a new respect between the Lakewalkers, the two Farmers and the three Farmer-Riverworkers.  To the view of the professor, looking back at tales of years ago, this meshing of Farmer and Lakewalker was in fact the second great experiment by Dag. And, yet again, successful beyond all possible measure. Obviously there had been marriages but not a group of both folk.

####      [The Worth of Water](http://archiveofourown.org/works/496142) by [shimotsuki](http://archiveofourown.org/users/shimotsuki/pseuds/shimotsuki)  

_In her turn, Berry considers what the river found in Alder, and what it found in Whit._

####      [A Tale Gets Told on the River](http://archiveofourown.org/works/233965) by [KarenHunt](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KarenHunt/pseuds/KarenHunt)

The last of the so-far known tales of Dag's river journey, the professor wondered what each of the participants had learnt.  He leafed back in the text to the story: _When Capstone Cutter met up with Boss Wain at Confluence._  

Coming to the final series of astonishing efforts by Dag to break the barriers between his world and the ever-encroaching world of the not-understanding Farmers, the professor re-read with enjoyment his collection of tales of Dag and his last journey with Fawn upriver.  In particular, he looked at the involvement and near-kidnap of Arkady from his comfortable life in the south at New Moon Cutoff to the sudden dangers of trail-riding with active and keen Malice hunters on the way north. 

####      [Breaking Free](http://archiveofourown.org/works/107306) by [KarenHunt](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KarenHunt/pseuds/KarenHunt)  

First, he read again an insight into Arkady well-settled in the south:  _How Arkady's life began to change when Dag and Fawn arrived at New Moon Cutoff_

####      [A New Beginning](http://archiveofourown.org/works/160623) by [KarenHunt](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KarenHunt/pseuds/KarenHunt) 

The next piece was : _How Sumac and Arkady joined forces._

####      [North](http://archiveofourown.org/works/51629) by [Philomytha](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Philomytha/pseuds/Philomytha) 

Then the third segment gave more details of how Arkady was caught by Sumac.  These three tales being before the Bat Malice and the proof of success in using the mind-blocking walnut necklaces.  The Bujold history was the clearest tale of the defeat of the Bat Malice but the side stories and the useful, albeit minor, detail from the secondary tales was very interesting.  Although the professor did note from time to time that there were discrepancies between the official stories and some of the secondaries; and between some of the secondary tales too.  But, he mused, surely that was to be expected.  A tale that begins as a tale around the camp fire is going to be subject to the tale-teller's eagerness and the listener]s variation. At times, he was amazed the stories did retain so much consistency.

####      [Mind Over Matter](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5468759) by [Quasar](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Quasar/pseuds/Quasar)

After the reunion post the Bat Malice fiasco, albeit there was a frantically fortunate outcome, retold in the next story. _How Dag's head injury is worse than they realized; Arkady helps, but then Fawn and Sumac have to straighten them both out._

####      [To Be a Patroller](http://archiveofourown.org/works/171739) by [KarenHunt](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KarenHunt/pseuds/KarenHunt) 

_Tavia's view of the events of Horizon._ This was especially interesting to the professor as her southern viewpoint had the potential to give such a different angle with the possibility of interesting variation.  The reports by Remo and by Sumac and even by Dag were all going to cover the same ground as they came from a background busily experienced in malice-hunting.

Valin pondered exactly what Neeta might have said in her report. Now there was one which would have a biased and skewed view.

####      [Remo's Return](http://archiveofourown.org/works/109480) by [KarenHunt](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KarenHunt/pseuds/KarenHunt) 

_Remo arrives at Pearl Riffle._ Another version of the events down-river and up-river.

####      [Floodwaters of Change](http://archiveofourown.org/works/85638) by [KarenHunt](http://archiveofourown.org/users/KarenHunt/pseuds/KarenHunt)

_Sumac's report arrives at Hickory Lake._

Vanil particularly enjoyed this piece. To imply that the story was just Sumac's report was almost misleading. The report was only part of the tale. It was the follow-up at the camp conference that fascinated him.  How Hoharie had been manipulated.  How some folk realised how badly they had treated Dag. The story ended with Dar well disgraced but was incomplete as to how Dar had behaved afterward.

####      [Ripples of Change](http://archiveofourown.org/works/14425) by [BeccaStareyes](http://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaStareyes/pseuds/BeccaStareyes)

_Dag's report makes it to the ears of Fairbolt Crow._

The professor smiled as he recalls students who gave appallingly brief reports of significant events compared with others who could write a lengthy and dull report on what they had for breakfast.

 

The next set of stories were all minor tales about the days after the Dag-Fawn and Berry-Whit households settled at their new base. Vanil considered for a moment how many mixed marriages there might have been before Dag and Fawn and how they had coped.  Both primary and secondary stories implied that this was easier in the south - more common and more accepted than in the north. But, in a way, Dag's openness about it made it yet another of his contributions to major change.

Unbeguilement, Healing Farmers, Shell-shields, Mixed marriage, Living with Farmers, Sharing ground secrets; then the discoveries with Dav'n. Dag's influence was beyond fantastic towards phenomenal and, as many had said, world-changing.

     [Risking Hope](http://archiveofourown.org/works/51628) by [Philomytha](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Philomytha/pseuds/Philomytha)  

_Arkady sees a spark - and worries._ The professor considered how much of Arkady's life had been wounded by such sparks.

####      [Tent Bluefield](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2759414) by [Philomytha](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Philomytha/pseuds/Philomytha) 

_Mari and Omba pay a visit to Clearcreek._

Vanil had spent some time reading, annotating and comparing each of these secondary stories against each other and against the primary histories complied by Lady Bujold. Â Sometimes, it was the tiniest snippets which fit best, sometimes they just felt wrong.

A couple of the stories in this section were really short. It puzzled him a little as to how they had been saved as they actually didn't add much to the package but as far as he was concerned it was only the truly incompatible stories or the ones which clearly had an imaginary streak to them, usually as if a second series of characters from an outside world had been added - those he set aside as unsuitable.

####      [Ripples in Still Water](http://archiveofourown.org/works/226219) by [Glishara](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Glishara/pseuds/Glishara)  

_Dag and Fawn left West Blue behind them, but what effects did their passage have on the world they left behind?_

####      [Arrivals](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1184240) by [katyhasclogs](http://archiveofourown.org/users/katyhasclogs/pseuds/katyhasclogs)

Whit compares significant events - _"I_ _t feels like the first day I saw the river, but twice over."_

####      [Peace or Warning?](http://archiveofourown.org/works/209705) by [firefly124](http://archiveofourown.org/users/firefly124/pseuds/firefly124) 

_When things seem a bit too quiet, Fawn begins to worry._

####      [Consequences](http://archiveofourown.org/works/34789) by [karihan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/karihan/pseuds/karihan)

_While coming to a farmer's rescue, Dag, Fawn, Arkady and Sumac run into unexpected consequences for a friend._ _  
_

 

What a nuisance that there were these irritating inconsistencies, the professor grumbled to himself. For example, he still wasn't sure which of these last stories carried the best and most likely outcome for Barr's half-breed daughter. He was not alone in believing that the difficulties of the half-breed were noticeably easier than they used to be. And both stories carried a hint of improvement - whether for Lily or Lilly!

The two Dav'n stories were by a huge factor the longest and that carried some weight as to being the better story but who could be certain of truth at a distance of years. There seemed to be truth in both available versions.

Regarding the next pair of long stories, the professor had some concerns.  He was still unsure how closely they fitted with the Bujold histories.  Admittedly, the children of Dag and Fawn and Whit and Berry, amongst others, were the key players and, indeed, almost all the participants in the major tales were again involved ....... but the stories went far beyond Lady Bujold's works. 

 [Claiming the Future](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4516035) by [Vlad](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Vlad/pseuds/Vlad)

In this first part of the tale the children of those from Lady Bujold's histories strike out and try to make their mark.  In the first of these lengthy tales, the original summary read : _Dag and Fawn have changed their world. Many things have changed, but growing up and making your way in the world is something each generation must do on its own. Dag and Fawn's eldest Dav'n does this most busily._

####      [The Wide Green World](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4663707) by [Vlad](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Vlad/pseuds/Vlad)

The continuation of Dav'ns story:  _Dav'n quests for a place where his family can be safe and grow. To do that he has to go places where Lakewalkers can't chase him down if the Great Assembly should rule against him. Familiar faces and new aid him on his quest for A Place Called Home._

 Nevertheless, the professor had agreed to include them in this collection of secondary histories and they contained useful guides to how the early days of the Lakewalker-Farmer Union had begun to work together.  In his small select group of scholars, they referred to this period as the beginning of the LFU.  For most it was just 'the world as we know it'.  As a side-thought, Vanil wondered how the doctrine of unintended consequences would work out.

What would happen in the camps as farmers became more welcome? What would be lost? What more might be gained? Now that there seemed to be enough spare resources to fund the small college - would they discover anything about malices that could or might predict how long it would take until the last was removed? What was actually known about malices anyway? And how much was true and how much was anecdata, culled from the camp-fire tales of ageing lakewalkers?

In the follow-up stories, where Dag and Fawn had significantly less impact on events, there were still new discoveries to be made.  In particular, the new skills which were awoken when Dav'n accessed his remarkable powers of focus and drive. The gradual expansion of the known world into the oceans and islands. All new.  And all due to the determination of the once nearly-dead Dag to make a difference. And what a difference he had made.  The professor did not want to consider a world where Dag had never existed and where all Dag's worst forecasts had come true.  

But in the meantime, Vanil would stay alert for new pieces of Lakewalker or Farmer history as they came to light. If all he could find were transcripts of camp-fire legend, he would add a pinch of salt to his assessment - but, so far, most of the stories had fit with the primary histories of Lady Bujold to his satisfaction.  He hoped those who read his summary would be equally satisfied.  He was pleased with this second version; it was no longer a simple list that he was supplying. Now he had added comments of his own.

He neither knew nor really cared if either part of his message was heard but as he bent to his work once more he said 'Thanks Dag, and thanks Lois'.


End file.
